


Starlight, Star Bright

by AXEe



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I Will Go Down With This Ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23517259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Post "If The Stars Should Appear", Alara takes a chance after a talk with Kelly...
Relationships: Alara Kitan/Ed Mercer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Starlight, Star Bright

**Author's Note:**

> It's official, I have a new ship now :=)

******

Alara winced as she shifted position on the biobed, wincing as her still-sensitive skin pulled.

“You OK?” Kelly asked from the other bed.

“Yeah,” wincing, Alara laid back down “just…still a little sore”

“I’m not surprised,” Kelly smirked “we’ve both been through the wringer today,” she remarked as she went back to the tablet in her hands before suddenly looking up “hey, earlier, when you were asking me about Ed,” she began “why did you want to know?”

“Oh,” Alara noticeably went stiff “just…curious” she shrugged.

Kelly was frowning at her now.

“Yeah, but, you mentioned that Ed seems like the only guy on the ship who doesn’t have a problem with your strength,” she pointed out. She stared at Alara intently “are you…attracted to him?” she asked.

“ _What?_ ” Alara squawked “no! Of course not!” she huffed “for one thing, he’s the captain,” she frowned “besides,” she added quietly as she found an interesting spot on the wall “you said that he had problem with balancing work and his relationships”

“Yeah, I did,” Kelly agreed “but that was over a year ago, he’s changed a lot since then,” she pointed out “besides,” she began, awkwardly leaning towards Alara “I don’t think that he’d mind”

“Really?” Alara asked quickly “I mean…really, you think so?”

“Yeah,” Kelly nodded “I mean, I don’t think that you should, you know, jump into bed with him on the first date”

“Oh no” Alara agreed.

“…but, if you were to ask him out on a date, I really don’t think that he’d complain,” Kelly continued “give it a try, up to you” she shrugged before she set the tablet aside and turned out the light over her biobed, quickly rolling over and going to sleep, leaving Alara alone with her thoughts as Claire softly came over.

“You know, I think she’s right” Claire remarked.

“Oh, you heard that” Alara realized as Claire checked her vitals.

“Mm-hmm,” Claire nodded “and I saw the captain’s face when we found you laying in that field, trust me I’ve served with quite a few starship captains in my time, and the look on his face was _not_ the look you have for someone who you see just as another crewmember,” she explained. She leaned forwards, giving Alara a pat on the shoulder “give it a shot” she advised…

******

The next day and both she and Kelly had been cleared to return to duty, with the proviso that they both take it easy for a few days.

Entering Ed’s office, Alara snapped to attention.

“Hey, there she is!” Ed grinned as he saw her “relax, sit down,” he told her “take a load off”

“Thank you, sir,” still feeling a little weak, she eased herself down into the chair “I just wanted to tell you that Dr. Finn cleared me for active duty again” she explained.

“I know,” Ed nodded “she told me, she also told me that she wants you and Kelly to both take it easy for a while”

“That’s right,” she nodded “so, I guess I won’t be opening any pickle jars for a while” she chuckled.

“Eh, it’s all right,” Ed dismissed “we’ve got Bortus and Isaac to open them in the meantime,” standing up, he came around the desk, perching on the edge of it before her “you know, you really had me worried out there on the bio-ship” he remarked.

“Well, it wasn’t like I was _trying_ to get shot” Alara pointed out.

“No, of course not,” Ed laughed “still, you doing OK? No funny aftereffects? You’re not going to start changing colors or something?”

“No,” she shook her head. She reflexively reached up, lightly rubbing at the area where she’d been shot “I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before” she murmured.

“I’m not surprised,” Ed remarked “you scared me too”

“I can’t tell you how happy I was to see you standing over me” she remarked.

“Well that’s better than being pissed to see me standing over you,” he chuckled. He pushed off the desk and sat down on the arm of the other chair “you sure you’re OK?” he asked.

“I’m fine now,” she nodded. The air between them was suddenly tense, filled with potential “uh, can I ask you something?” she asked quietly.

“You can ask me anything,” Ed nodded “go ahead”

“Would you…like to have dinner with me tonight?” she asked softly.

“What, you mean like a date?” Ed asked.

Finding another interesting spot on the wall to stare at, Alara nodded.

“Yeah,” she confirmed “like a date”

Suddenly, a set of gentle fingers were under her chin, gently turning her head back to look at him.

“I’d like that” Ed nodded, smiling shyly.

“You…you would?” she echoed.

“Yeah” he nodded.

“Good,” she grinned “so, uh, how about right after our shifts end?”

“Sounds good to me,” Ed nodded, standing up “say, 2100 hours?”

“2100 hours” she nodded, standing up herself.

“See you then, Alara” Ed grinned.

“See you then…Ed,” she nodded back, and with a bit of a spring in her step that had nothing to do with Claire’s skills as a doctor, slipped out into the corridor. Smirking, she tapped her comm “Alara to Commander Greyson”

“ _Greyson here_ ”

“Kelly, do you have a moment?”

“ _Yeah, sure, what do you need?_ ”

“Advice,” Alara sighed “I’ve got a date tonight,” she chuckled “turns out you were right”

There was a pause, and then Kelly chuckled.

“ _Told you,_ ” she replied “ _come on over_ ”

“Thanks”

“ _No problem_ ”

Ending the call, Alara found herself grinning from ear-to-ear as she headed to Kelly’s quarters. She wondered what kind of dress she should wear…

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Should I be complaining about this new ship or not? Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
